New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-03-14
ROMANCE AND REALISM.
TWO OF MR.. HAGaARDs NOVELS.


JESS. Novel BY II. RIDER HAeGARp' harper
THE wIrCHs HEAD By the same. D. Appleton q
Mr. Hsuaord continues to keep out Of the be"ter
tract, and to write stories which full OF 1magl
nation realistic description. stirring action aho
vomance His last novel; Jess, is IransVaa
tale and all the more interesting because IL ma<es
us acquainted with a people whose sava3ery aho
whose robust powers have together made them th'
predominant force in South Africa. Inc boeIe D
with their narrow, feWid Biblicalism, their Pi'i
less cruelty to the native tribes, their rus
and filthy habits, their dense ignorance III A .
respects, their indomitable pluck ana seinS'
shrewdness, are O folk by 10 means auh'ii@oio'
by no means attractive, but who comih'ho eo,iON
attention by their force and coml"i W -.
resrect by their bsrbarOus SUCCESSES -
ia possible for an Enslishnan WHO ii"e n'~e
the Transyaal TO do them justice may perhaps "
doubted They must have always been people
."gey ill to live wi, as Carlyies mooher reni"iN'o
of the philosopher. and when they conquered a
,.oco honorable only for themselves and little less
than disgraceful for Great Britain. 1t could hardly
be expected that representative Of the discom-
8ted side should describe them from the point of
view Of their best qualities.
Certainly Mr. Haggard has drawn an unprepOssess-
ing picture of them, but it is thoroughly inter-
estnQ one, and perhaps to make amends for any
partiality in this respect he has taken for MS
mincipal villain a half-breed In whose veins nows
not less English than Boer blood. There Is not
much plot. An ENGLISH farm in the Iransvaal Is
the scene of most Of the action Jess the
heroine is q peculiar girl Of strong passions put
stronger will. She idolizes her younger sister,
and finding that the latter is In love WIN Cap'a
Mel. the hero she resolves to sacrifice her own
affections, which are placed on the same object
Fronh Muller the half breed BOer, is a remarkable
character. His heart is 1xei upOn having Bessie
the sister of Jess, to wife, He is unscrupulous'
fierce and treacherous. Being a man OF strong
intellect he has acquired ascendancy over inc
Boer population, and intends to use II 10 make
himself President Of the Republic. In attempting
10 secure the hand Of Bessie he resorts % various
underhaud devices. and does not shrink from as
sass nation when the opportunity arises. ohuei
other circumstances he would be melodram"t'o
villain, but in the Transvaa, among race OF
semi-barbarians and subject to all the exciting
influences of q life-and-death struggle with Eng
land. his excuses do not appear SO unnatural
nor are thev out Of plnce The action is sDirlted
throughout. At the very opening there IS
curious account Of a fight with a vicious male
ostrich which introduces an element new, no
doubt. TO most readers. No attempt is made 10
follow the fortunes Of the war. but there Is a
lively sketch OF the armed lager at Pretoria
and some apparently faithful portraits OF Boer
chiefs generals and families. An amusing one
is that of the old mariarch, who insists that there
are precisely three thousand men In the BRUSH
army and holds to tbs belief with perunaclty
worthy of more accurate statistics.
Episodes In the story stand out as almost per-
feet bits of graphic narrative for instance thal
of the attempt to murder jess and Mel at the IaSe
ford. the scene of the arrest OF Silas Croft, the
burning of Mooifontein and the vengeance of poor
jess. The vivid descriptive power shown IN MI
Haggards previous works is seen at its best mere
and the passion and energy OF the narrative carry
the reader away. There is one person concerning
whom different views may be entertained and That
is Bessie She is beautiful and sweet, but she has
little mind and not much strength Of any kind
Though jess is devoted to her she responds colby
to sisterly love, and when she Is made to believe
by false report that Mel is dead she rallies so
quickly from the shock that it is plain to see she
is not far from heartwhole. Jess Is Of course In
tended to show the more nobly by contrast with
this weak nature, but Captain Mel will be apt to
lose ground in the good opinion Of the reader when
IT is seen how he consoles himself for the loss Of so
rich and deep a love as the unfortunate heroine
found impossible to withhold from him. The
story, however, Is decidedly captivating, one and
not to be put down until the end Is reached ;
sure proof of the sterling quality Of any novel.
In "The Witch's Head Mr.. Haggard lays his
scene partly in England and partly in South Africa
1he title is in truth rather far-fetched and savors
Of the sensat onal Overmuch There really is
witchs head in the story-the embalmed head OF
some Saxon beauty, discovered strangely through
4 ~, % o,,ia pfc1, n
yard There is some evidence too that the author
ct one time intended this CHASTITY relic to play
more dominant part in the story, but he appears
10 have abandoned that purpose. and has contented
himself by dimly suggesting analogy or connec-
ton of an occult character) between the wicked
modern GIRL Florence, and the wicked ancient
witch whose head is introduced. SO vaguely Is
this thought outlined, however, and so little is 1t
subsequently, developed that it counts for nothing
in the story and hey ond general indication OF
ill-luck following the witch's head there is no
justification for the employment OF so bizarre a con-
ception. Apart from this the story is in way
open TO the charge Of unreality In none Of his
tales has Mr.. Haggard surpassed several of the
episodes here. The description Of the combat be-
tween the Boer giant and Jeremy, and that Of the
last fight of Alston's Horse are good enough of
themselves to make reputation For spirit,
terseness, intensity ana eiapiiic iorce Ihese PIC
lures are admirable, and deserve to stand with
the best wcri1 of the kind In fiction. Mr. IIaSgard
seems to have a genchant for soft-charactered
young women. 1t must be said. for Eva in The
Xitch's Head resembles Bessie in Jess in sew
cral particulars and her moral fabbiness and ten
dcncy to yield to the last conner is not only agra
waiting but rcIellcnt. Still she Is strongly pre-
scented and the tyne is faithfully portrayed. There
is sort of poetical jus. ice i'm dell vering faith
less a sweetheart over TO that odious Powder,
though Eva's moral invertebracy enables her to
adapt herself to even this position, and the i'm
preston is conveyed despite her final outbreak Of
scntimcntaity, that she was tolcraby contcntcd
18th hon. Lot